• French oak
• Blackberry & dark plum
• Toasty barrel spice
• Plush & velvety

"Seductively complex and enticing, the wine shows dark fruit richness, smoked game, vanillin oak, dried herb and potpourri aromas, leading to a powerfully concentrated palate delivering outstanding weight and depth. Wonderfully complemented by plush texture and layers of grainy tannins, finishing impressively long and velvety. At its best: now to 2037" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, May 2023

"A captivating bouquet of dark plums and sweet black olives, there’s a black currant and blackberry scent laced with toasty barrel spices and sweet tobacco oak suggestions. Dry stones and dark earth underpin these bouquet ideas. Full-bodied, taut, dry, complex and firm. Tannins are robust, abundant, polished  with fine through course textures, acidity is the backbone and core of fruit centration still making friends with the oak. A wine that is still very youthful and in need of cellar development time. It’s also delicious and a fine match with cheese in its youthful state. Lengthy and complex, a wine best drink for drinking from 2026 through 2036" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Jun 2020

"A blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc. Inky, youthful red with blackberry, raspberry, dark chocolate, blueberry and cedar flavours. Serious red that has been built for the long haul" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, May 2023

"Full, dark purple with an inky ruby-red core, lighter on the rim. This has a pronounced, powerful bouquet penetrating layers of blackberry and juicy plum aromas intertwined with cedar, tobacco, smoke meat, violet, liquorice and an amalgam of spice. Full-bodied, dark plum and blackberry aromas melded with boysenberry, savoury smoked meat, liquorice, and unfolding layers of violet, cedar and tobacco leaf. The mouthfeel is dense with rich and complex aromas; fine-grained, velvety tannins carry dark minerals and lend an enticing, broody, extended finish. Lively acidity is integrated and supportive, providing vitality for long-term cellaring. This flagship blend is striking, with dense, complex layers of interest, powerful and in its youth" Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Reviews, Jun 2023

A complex aroma of cassis, black currant, and black cherry, fresh tobacco, cocoa powder hints of oyster shell, floral violet, clove, and an intriguing sanguine and sous bois note. The palate has great structure and layers of complexity of flavour. A silky textured attack with a plush concentrated cassis and blackberry palate, with ripe Black cherry cocoa powder and spice flavours on the mid palate, a hint of mineral elegance expressed as oyster shell with a long flavored fine grained tannin finish. This wine will improve with cellaring. Recommended drinking from 2023 till 2043.

The very best sub blocks on the Paritua Vineyard at 2112 Maraekakaho Road have been selected to grow extremely low yielding vines. Management and care for this flagship wine starts with pruning. The vines are manicured from then onwards, with crop thinning to one bunch per cane and a manual leaf-pluck pre veraison. The canopy is kept open to provide for airflow and sun exposure. At optimum ripeness we hand harvest selected rows.

Whole bunches are de-stemmed, the berries are then sorted using our optical grape sorter, then crushed to a closed fermenter. After a cold soak, we inoculate with preferred yeast. Temperatures are then managed to reach about 30°C. Once the ferment is dry the wine is tasted to evaluate maceration time, usually 20 to 28 days post ferment, Malolactic fermentation occurs on skins during maceration, and then finally basket pressed to barrel. Barrels are stored in temperature-controlled rooms, at 8 degrees Celsius. We use 50% new French oak barriques. Elevage in barrel will take up to 24 months. Final barrel selection and blending takes place approximately 8 weeks before bottling.

Food Pairing: Grilled lamb, wild mushroom risotto, beef cheek.